{"id":2324267,"date":"2024-08-14T09:20:01","date_gmt":"2024-08-14T13:20:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/votes-show-likely-herrera-beutler-vs-upthegrove-in-race-for-lands-commissioner-washington-examiner\/"},"modified":"2024-08-14T09:24:46","modified_gmt":"2024-08-14T13:24:46","slug":"votes-show-likely-herrera-beutler-vs-upthegrove-in-race-for-lands-commissioner-washington-examiner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/votes-show-likely-herrera-beutler-vs-upthegrove-in-race-for-lands-commissioner-washington-examiner\/","title":{"rendered":"Votes show likely Herrera Beutler vs Upthegrove in race for lands commissioner &#8211; Washington Examiner"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">30<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fvotes-show-likely-herrera-beutler-vs-upthegrove-in-race-for-lands-commissioner-washington-examiner%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2324267&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>In the recent \u2062primary race for \u2064Washington state&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/what-to-expect-in-kansas-michigan-missouri-and-washington-primaries-washington-examiner\/\" title=\"What to expect in Kansas, Michigan, Missouri, and Washington primaries - Washington Examiner\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/joe-biden-knows-he-messed-up-on-fracking-at-debate-and-is-now-doing-damage-control-the-daily-wire\/\" title=\"Joe Biden Knows He Messed Up On Fracking At Debate And Is Now Doing Damage Control | The Daily Wire\">public lands<\/a> commissioner<\/a>, Republican \u2062Jaime Herrera Beutler has secured a \u2062<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/xi-jinping-celebrates-chinas-global-leading-position-economically-after-two-years-of-pandemic\/\" title=\"Xi Jinping Celebrates China&#039;s &#039;Global Leading Position&#039; Economically After Two Years of Pandemic\">leading position<\/a> with \u2063nearly 22% of the \u200dvotes. The second spot \u2064is still in contention, with \u200bDemocrat Dave Upthegrove \u2063currently leading\u200c Republican Sue\u2064 Kuehl Pederson by over 5,700 votes, although many ballots from several counties remain uncounted, keeping the outcome uncertain.<\/p>\n<p>Herrera Beutler \u200cexpressed confidence in finishing as the top\u200b vote-getter \u2062but acknowledged that the final \u200cresults for her potential \u2062challenger may take a few days\u200c to determine.\u2064 She emphasized \u200dher \u200ccommitment to responsible management of public lands, including preventing catastrophic wildfires and preserving ecosystems. If Upthegrove turns out\u200b to be her\u200d opponent, Herrera Beutler highlighted key differences in their approaches, \u2064particularly regarding land \u200dmanagement \u200cstrategies.<\/p>\n<p>The commissioner of public lands oversees Washington\u2019s Department \u2063of Natural Resources, which manages \u2063nearly 6 million acres\u2062 of public lands. The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/texas-land-commissioner-candidate-promises-to-defund-schools-teaching-corrosive-critical-race-theory\/\" title=\"Texas Land Commissioner Candidate Promises to Defund Schools Teaching &#039;Corrosive&#039; Critical Race Theory\">current commissioner<\/a>, Hilary \u200dFranz, is stepping down \u2063after seven years to run for Congress.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">Votes show likely Herrera Beutler vs Upthegrove in race for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/washington-residents-will-soon-receive-their-primary-election-ballots-in-the-mail\/\" title=\"Washington residents will soon receive their primary election ballots in the mail\">lands commissioner<\/a><\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_1729994\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p>(The Center Square) &ndash; In a race that remains too close to call for the second-place finisher, Republican Jaime Herrera Beutler has secured her top spot for Washington state&rsquo;s next public lands commissioner.<\/p>\n<p>As of Tuesday, the former member of Congress has just under 22% of the vote total.<\/p>\n<p>While it appeared just after the Aug. 6 primary that Republican Sue Kuehl Pederson would cinch the second spot, snubbing Democrats out of the general election entirely, ballots added in the last few days have given King County Council Chair Dave Upthegrove (D) the edge over Pederson.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Upthegrove is leading Kuehl Pederson by more than 5,700 votes, but there are several counties that still have thousands of&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/results.vote.wa.gov\/results\/20240806\/turnout.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>ballots to be tallied.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Walla Walla County shows 9,500 ballots outstanding. Thurston County has 5,800 ballots to be added in.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I wouldn&rsquo;t say it&rsquo;s a done deal yet,&rdquo; said Herrera Beutler, who told The Center Square she&rsquo;s confident that she will finish out as the top vote-getter but said it may take another day or two to know for sure who her challenger will be.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;It looks like I can take a little breath for me at least,&rdquo; said Herrera Beutler.<\/p>\n<p>The candidate said her message between now and the general election is not going to change.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;We have to responsibly manage our public lands. We have to protect habitat and preserve ecosystems, and we must prioritize preventing catastrophic wildfires,&rdquo; she said.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I am tired of burning forests and choking smoke and those are a result of not responsibly managing our forests,&rdquo; said Herrera Beutler.<\/p>\n<p>Assuming Upthegrove is her opponent, Herrera Beutler said the contrast between their approaches for the office paint a stark picture.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve heard him say on day one he wants to set aside a large amount of land and now is not the time to do that,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;Now is not the time to do that, because they are burning, and we need to make sure they are healthy and thriving.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The commissioner of public lands oversees Washington&rsquo;s Department of Natural Resources, which is responsible for nearly 6 million acres of public lands.<\/p>\n<p>As&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.thecentersquare.com\/washington\/article_c5896068-4606-11ef-b0d6-27542d4acec5.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>previously reported<\/strong><\/a>&nbsp;by The Center Square, current Commissioner Hilary Franz is stepping down after seven years in the position to run for Congress.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>In a July candidate forum, Upthegrove, said the &ldquo;world is changing&rdquo; and that Washingtonians are experiencing the impacts of climate change.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;m running for lands commissioner to improve the management of our public lands to meet these realities of today,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;My vision includes incorporating environmental justice, and tribal sovereignty into all of our work.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The Center Square did reach out to Upthegrove for comment but did not receive a response in time for publication.<\/p>\n<p>Herrera Beutler says some of the accusations made about her plans for the office are untrue.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;m not going to undue protections for old growth and I&rsquo;m not going to commercially put all the land up for sale,&rdquo; she said.<\/p>\n<p>Herrera Beutler said her goal is to lead the agency, trust DNR employees and not allow outside interest groups to take over.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Over the last ten plus years, there&rsquo;s been this increasing pressure from extreme special interest groups, from Seattle and Olympia, who have pushed this whole agency out of the realm of using science to manage it, to the realm of emotions,&rdquo; she said.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Vote counting is scheduled to continue with Aug. 23 set as the deadline for the secretary of state to certify the results of the primary.<\/p>\n<p> <script data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/cdn-cgi\/scripts\/5c5dd728\/cloudflare-static\/email-decode.min.js\"><\/script><script>!function(){var g=window;g.googletag=g.googletag||{},g.googletag.cmd=g.googletag.cmd||[],g.googletag.cmd.push(function(){g.googletag.pubads().setTargeting(\"has-featured-video\",\"true\")})}();<\/script><script>var _bp=_bp||[];_bp.push({\"div\":\"Brid_1729994\",\"obj\":{\"id\":\"27789\",\"width\":\"1280\",\"height\":\"720\",\"stickyDirection\":\"below\",\"video\":\"1729994\"}});<\/script><script defer src=\"https:\/\/services.brid.tv\/player\/build\/brid.min.js\"><\/script><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Votes indicate a likely matchup between Herrera Beutler and Upthegrove for the position of lands commissioner (The Center Square) \u2013 In a race that is still too close to determine the second-place candidate, Republican Jaime Herrera Beutler has solidified her lead for Washington state&#8217;s next public lands commissioner. As of Tuesday, the former Congresswoman holds nearly 22% of the total votes. Initially, it seemed that Republican Sue Kuehl Pederson would secure the second spot, potentially excluding Democrats from the general election. However, recent ballot counts have given King County Council Chair Dave Upthegrove (D) an advantage over Pederson by more than 5,700 votes. There are still several counties with thousands of ballots yet to be counted; Walla Walla County has about 9,500 outstanding ballots and Thurston County has around 5,800 remaining. \u201cI wouldn\u2019t say it\u2019s a done deal yet,\u201d Herrera Beutler told The Center Square while expressing confidence in her position as the leading vote-getter but acknowledging that it may take another day or two to confirm who her opponent will be. \u201cIt looks like I can take a little breath for me at least,\u201d she added. She emphasized that her campaign message will remain consistent leading up to the general election: \u201cWe must responsibly manage our public lands, protect habitats and ecosystems, and prioritize preventing catastrophic wildfires.\u201d She expressed frustration over forest fires and smoke resulting from poor forest management practices.<\/p>\n<p>If Upthegrove is indeed her opponent, Herrera Beutler highlighted their differing approaches: \u201cI\u2019ve heard him say he wants to set aside large areas of land on day one; now is not the time for that because they are burning\u2014we need healthy forests.\u201d The public lands commissioner oversees Washington&#8217;s Department of Natural Resources (DNR), which manages nearly six million acres of public land. Current Commissioner Hilary Franz is stepping down after seven years in office to run for Congress.<\/p>\n<p>In a July candidate forum, Upthegrove remarked on climate change&#8217;s impact on Washingtonians: &#8220;I&#8217;m running for lands commissioner to enhance how we manage our public lands in light of today&#8217;s realities.&#8221; He envisions integrating environmental justice and tribal sovereignty into all operations.<\/p>\n<p>The Center Square attempted to contact Upthegrove for comments but did not receive a response before publication deadlines. Herrera Beutler refuted some claims regarding her plans for DNR: &#8220;I\u2019m not going to remove protections for old growth nor will I sell off all land commercially.&#8221; Her aim is to lead DNR effectively while trusting its employees without allowing external interest groups undue influence: &#8220;For over ten years now there\u2019s been increasing pressure from extreme special interest groups in Seattle and Olympia pushing this agency away from science-based management towards emotional decision-making.&#8221; Vote counting will continue with August 23 set as the deadline for certifying primary results by the secretary of state<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2324268,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/AP24014160536170-1024x683.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[538],"tags":[38099,38101,5894,38100,4086],"class_list":["post-2324267","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-washington-examiner","tag-herrera-beutler","tag-lands-commissioner","tag-politics","tag-upthegrove","tag-washington"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/AP24014160536170-1024x683.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2324267","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2324267"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2324267\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2324268"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2324267"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2324267"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2324267"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}